A Different Ending
by Hayley Maxwell
Summary: What if the legendary battle had never occurred? She couldn't believe her eyes. It was gone. Everything was destroyed. She had lost everyone. Tears began to pool in the corner of her eyes. "Hey," He whispered. "He's gone." She sobbed. "We don't know that." He tried to reassure her. She pushed him away. "Look around," She yelled. "There's nothing left." I do not own Power Rangers.
1. Nightmares

Chapter One: Nightmares

The heat was intense. It felt as if the skin was slowly melting off his body. Smoke filled his lungs causing him to cough. He was disoriented. He wanted to scream, but he was too weak to move. His body ached. He looked around and could vaguely make out a pair of boots approaching him.

"Troy?" He looked up, but he couldn't see anyone.

"Troy?" The voice called again. Troy recognized the voice, but he couldn't figure out where it was coming from. The voice was getting louder. He felt a pair of hands shake him and suddenly he was in another place.

He rubbed him eyes, letting them adjust to his new surroundings. He was at Ernie's. He glanced up. Emma was looking down at him.

"Hey, you fell asleep again." She asked concerned. "That's the fourth time today."

"I'm just really tired." He replied looking away. He hadn't told her or anyone for that matter that he was having nightmares. At first, they hadn't bothered him. After all, didn't everyone have them occasionally. But recently they had begun to get worst, they had gotten so bad that he was barely able to sleep for more than an hour at night. "Haven't been getting much sleep."

"It's not school work is it?" She asked. He shook his head. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Before he had a chance to answer, Noah walked in. "Come on guys. Jake's match starts soon."

"We're coming." Troy called out. He looked to Emma as he began to leave. He didn't want her to ask again but somehow, he knew she would.

"We'll talk later." She said getting up with him.

* * *

The game had gone well. So well that it's all Jake talked about the whole walk home.

"Oh, and did you see that last goal? It was awesome. The other team didn't stand a chance." He said smiling from ear to ear, soccer ball in hand.

"I think they could have scored another two goals if you weren't on the team." Gia teased him. She turned so no one would see she was secretly smiling.

"Yeah right?" Jake muttered, but when he turned to look at her he saw that she was completely serious. "You don't really mean that." He said, his face falling.

"No, she doesn't." Emma reassured him.

Gia shrugged, walking away. He turned to look to the others before running after her. "Gia?"

Noah laughed. "He really likes her, doesn't he?"

Before anyone could say anything, he felt someone's arm wrap around his. He glanced down, pushing his glasses back. "Hey Sandy." He greeted her.

She smiled up at him and he felt his heart skip a beat. "Hey, sorry I couldn't make the game."

Troy turned toward her, crossing his arms. "Where were you? And don't say you were at home. I called mom and she said you weren't there."

"I was busy." Troy raised his eyebrows. Sandy rolled her eyes. "I'm not a little kid anymore. You don't have to worry all the time."

"Speaking of worrying." Emma whispered so only he would hear it. Troy pretended not to hear her. "Next time at least let me know you can't make it."

Sandy smiled. "Yes sir." She began to drag Noah with her in the direction in which Jake and Gia had gone.

"Wait, where are we going?" He asked, almost tripping over his own feet.

"Home." She said, looking to him curiously. "Where else?"

Noah blushed. "Yeah. I knew that."

Troy started to follow them, but Emma blocked his path.

"I think we should talk now."

Troy sighed. All he wanted to do was go home and try to get some rest. He didn't want to talk about it. Now that they were no longer rangers, he thought life would be much easier. He thought sleeping would be much easier. It wasn't.

"Emma just drop it." He said a little harshly. She stared at him, hurt.

"Fine, we don't have to talk about it. But you should talk to someone. Anyone." With that she walked away from him. He watched her walk away. He knew she was right, he needed help.

* * *

Now it was Emma's turn to lie awake. She had tried to sleep hours ago, but it refused to come. Instead she lay on her bed, staring at her phone. Emma wanted to call Troy, she knew he must have been awake, but she didn't want to push him. Eventually he would talk. Having had enough, Emma threw the covers off and went to the kitchen to grab a glass of water, hoping it might calm her down.

Through the kitchen window, Emma noticed that the light was on in the house next door. The curtains were closed, but she could make out the shadow of someone moving things around. As she filled the glass up she heard a door opening. She turned to find her father walking out of his home office.

"Hey kiddo, what are you doing up?" He asked.

"Just grabbing a glass of water." She raised her glass slightly. She pointed out the window. "So, the new neighbors finally moved in?"

"Yeah, while you were at school actually. Your mom and I went to welcome them. They seem like nice people." Her dad told her.

"They must also be very busy people if they don't have time to unpack during the day." Emma stated.

"They are. They work for law enforcement."

"Really?" Emma asked. "Both of them?"

He nodded. "And they have a child. A little boy. I recommended your elementary school. They mentioned they were looking for a babysitter. I mentioned you might be able to help."

"Dad!" Her father laughed. "You said you wanted a job. Or did I not hear you correctly?"

"I do. But not as a babysitter." She sighed. She didn't mind children, at least not if they were younger than three. The problem was that she had been a babysitter before and she had thought the job would be easy. After all, how hard could it be to handle children. Then she had gotten a chance to take care of one and to say the least it was a disaster. The child would not listen to anything she said and eventually she quit.

"Maybe you can bring Gia along." She looked to her father seriously.

"At least stop by tomorrow. Introduce yourself. He seems like a calm kid." Her dad started to walk up the stairs.

"Don't they all?" She heard her dad laugh.

"Goodnight sweetie."

"Goodnight."


	2. Heart With No Feelings

Chapter Two: Heart With No Feelings

Emma stood at the front door of her new neighbors. She reluctantly raised her hand to knock, then quickly brought it back down. She took a deep breath. This was a bad idea. She went to knock again, but before her hand could make contact with the wood, it swung open. In front of her stood a tall blonde woman, hair held in a ponytail. She held a little boy with jet black hair and the biggest smile she had ever seen by the hand.

"Hi," She said, giving a small wave.

The woman smiled, "You must be the Goodall's daughter."

Emma nodded, "Emma." She held out her hand to shake.

The woman took it. "Nice to meet you. I'm Taylor and this is Matt." Emma looked down at the small boy who his behind his mother's leg.

Emma smiled, "Hi Matt."

"Say hi Matty." Taylor told him. Matt waved. "I'm assuming your parents told you about babysitting Matt?" She asked.

"They did."

"I'm on my way to register him for school. He won't need babysitting for a week or two. We still need to get our schedules settled for work, but I would really appreciate the help."

Emma hoped she didn't regret the next words out of her mouth. "That's what I'm here for."

"Thank you so much." Taylor let out a huge sigh of relief. It was one less thing she had to worry about. Moving to a new town hadn't been her idea, especially with Matt having just adjusted to his previous school. But the look on her husbands face when he told her they'd be expanding, and they'd be able to help more people told her they were making the right decision.

"Again, I really do appreciate it." Taylor told her, closing the door behind her and walking to her car. Emma waved as she watched them leave. Once they were out of sight she began walking toward Gia's house. When she reached the house, Gia was already outside waiting for her.

"Hey. You're usually here before I'm out. Wake up late?" Gia questioned. Both girls started walking towards the school.

"Nope. New neighbors."

"You got new neighbors already?"

Emma nodded. "I'd thought people would wait a little longer to make sure the attacks had stopped for good." Gia said.

Emma shrugged. "Maybe it's because they work for law enforcement. They're used to facing the bad guys."

"Not these kinds of bad guys."

"They offered me a job."

"Really?" Gia looked at Emma questionably.

"As a babysitter."

Gia stopped walking. "Emma?" She frowned.

"I know. But he seems like a nice kid." She defended.

"That's what you said about the last one."

They were across the street from the school. Emma spotted Noah and Jake and when they saw her they waved. She turned to Gia, "Look I know, but it's too late to change my mind now. She looks like she really needs the help and I don't have the heart to tell her she needs to keep looking."

Gia sighed. "Fine. Let's go. The boys are waiting."

* * *

Noah had gone straight to the base after school. He knew that he was no longer a ranger, but the place had begun to feel like home.

"Have you been able to make contact with Orion yet?" he asked Tensou.

The sound of Tensou's wheels turning to face him filled the room. "No. No contact yet."

Since Orion had left, the team had wanted to make sure that he had landed safely. It had been a couple weeks and they had yet to hear any news from him.

"Keep trying. I'm sure we'll hear something soon."

Tensou returned back to his work, saying. "Yes. I'm sure he's okay."

Noah wanted to help Tensou find a way to communicate with Orion, but he hadn't realized how behind in his school work he was. He spent a few hours trying to catch up before a message popped up on his phone, distracting him. It was Sandy.

Ever since Jake first laid eyes on Gia, he had been crazy about her and Noah would always teaseed, wondering how he could crush on someone so hard having only seen them. It wasn't until Noah met Sandy that he knew exactly what Jake felt. Unlike Jake, Noah didn't act on his feelings. It was partially due to the fact that she was Troy's little sister but also because he knew the feeling wasn't mutual.

So, when he smiled at Sandy's name on the screen, he silently cursed. "Get a grip Noah."

Sandy had asked him if he was free later tonight. Immediately his cheeks started to flush. Was he free? Of course, he was but should he tell her that. What if she wanted to go out with him? Like on a date. He didn't give his brain enough time to convince him to say no, typing out a quick reply letting her know that he in fact was free.

 _Great. Can you come over? I think there's something wrong with Troy. He won't talk to me._

Noah's smile fell. He was concerned for his friend but also upset that he had thought this could mean something else.

 _I'll come by later._ He quickly typed back.

He let his head fall onto the table. A loud thump passed through the room causing Tensou to cry out.

"Noah! Are you okay? What happened?"

"Any chance you know where to find a heart that can't feel?" his voice sounded muffled but Tensou could make out his words.

"In a monster. But why would you need one, Noah?"

Noah laughed. "Thanks, Tensou. I needed that."

"I thought you needed a heart. Is something wrong with yours? Should I tell the others?" Tensou began to move in circles around the base.

"Everything's fine. Don't worry. I'm heading out now. Let me know if you find anything." Noah said and starting to pack his stuff.

Sandy banged on the door, calling out to her brother. "Troy! Open the door."

"Go away, Sandy." He yelled back.

"If you don't open this door I'll break it down." Noah had told her that he would be coming by, but she still wanted to get her brother to tell her what was wrong.

"Sandy leave me alone."

"I'm not going anywhere. Not until you tell me what's wrong." He didn't say anything. She waited. Maybe he was considering telling her. Seconds became minutes and silence is all that came from the other side of the door. Then the unmistaken sound of branches breaking reached her ears.

"Troy! Troy!" She banged harder on the door. She ran to the window in her room and saw the shadow of someone disappearing in the trees.

She made a dash for her phone. She couldn't call her parents, they were out of town for a meeting. So, she called the only other person she trusted completely.


	3. Listen

Chapter Three: Listen

Noah was halfway to the Burrows home when he received a call from Sandy. "Hey, I'm almost th-"

He didn't get a chance to finish speaking before Sandy's frantic voice interrupted him. "Whoa. Slow down. What happened?" He picked up his pace. "What do you mean he jumped out the window?" Now he was in a full out sprint. Troy was had never been the type of person to run away from anything. To say he was concerned was an underestimate.

"Sandy, listen to me. Stay where you are. Don't move. I'm calling the others." Sandy was not happy. She argued with him saying that she should be out there looking for him. Eventually she gave in, making Noah promise that he would call as soon as he found anything.

Sandy didn't know that they had been rangers. Troy never wanted to tell her, fearing that it would put her in danger. Noah hoped that if Troy were to run anywhere, it'd be the ranger base. His first call was to Tensou, but the small robot informed him that the former Red Ranger was not there. His next option was tracking his morpher. It was a stretch, considering they were no longer rangers and didn't have a need to carry it around with them. Tensou was able to locate it at the Burrows' house, confirming that all his leads had reached a dead end.

* * *

Troy didn't realize he had been running until he tripped over a rock. He hit the ground hard, pain coursed through his body, but he ignored it getting back up. All he was focused on was escaping. Getting as far away as he could from his nightmares. The truth was they weren't just nightmares, they had turned into visions since he had last spoken to Emma. They briefly appeared, too quick for him to make anything out.

The first had come when he was in math class. He had been staring at the board when out of nowhere he heard glass shatter. On instinct he jumped out of his seat. He looked around the room, but there was nothing out of the ordinary. His classmates had stared at him weirdly and when he looked over to Gia she had asked him if he was alright.

He'd ask her if she had heard anything weird to which she replied she had not. After that the number of visions had increased. It seemed that everywhere he looked he either heard something or saw something that no one else had. It was driving him crazy. It was bad enough that he couldn't sleep at night, but now he couldn't even go around town peacefully.

He finally came to an abrupt stop at a tree. Leaning against it he looked up to the night sky.

"What is wrong with me?" he whispered. His breathing became heavy and his vision blurred. "No. Not again."

He blinked. To his left a body lay motionless on the ground covered in blood. A piercing scream ripped through the air and he could make out a girl running away as if something was chasing her. The sound of peoples' screams filled the air.

"Stop!" he yelled. He closed his eyes, clasping his head tightly in his hands. When he looked up again the ground was covered in more bodies. The burning of human flesh filled his nostrils. His body dripped in sweat. Straight ahead, a loud explosion could be heard. His ears were ringing.

From the trees emerged a woman. Her face was bloodied and bruised. Dirt filled every possible inch of her hair. She looked straight at him, yelling something. The words were lost, his ears still rung. When she finally reached him, she desperately shook him.

He focused on her lips, attempting to know what she was trying to tell him. It took him a while to realize she was saying his name. He's hearing was still fuzzy and he could only make out a few sounds now.

"-them!" she yelled. She looked quickly behind her as if to make sure no one was following.

"Listen…" she grabbed his face, forcing him to look at her. "Tell…you…to…"

The as quickly as the vision came, it was gone. Troy fell to the ground. His breathing became heavy. Before he was consumed with total darkness, he heard an engine and saw the headlights of a car as it came to a stop.

A door slammed, and a man rushed to his side. He heard him say, "There's an unconscious male at the side of the road leading to Ocean Bluff."

When Troy came to, he found himself in a bright white room. Sandy was asleep in the chair beside the bed. His head throbbed. He pushed himself into a seated position, his movements waking up Sandy from her slumber.

"Hey you." Sandy said, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"What happened?" He asked her.

"Well, let's see. You jumped out a window, ran away and got knocked out cold. What were you thinking?" She said lightly slapping his arm.

"I…I don't know. I just…I had this sudden urge to run."

Sandy raised an eyebrow. "To Ocean Bluff?"

"What?" Troy was confused.

"They found you on the road to Ocean Bluff."

"There was this woman. She was bleeding."

"How hard did you hit your head?" Sandy said, placing a hand on his forehead.

"Sandy," He grabbed her hand. "I know what I saw."

"You were the only one there, Troy." Sandy wanted to yell at him. She wanted to scream at him for running away, for leaving her. Growing up, their parents were never home. Sure, they provided for them, but they were never around to show how much they cared. Troy was always there. He was the only constant thing in her life. She couldn't lose him.

"I'm telling you the truth Sandy." He sighed.

"We can ask the officer who found you. He said he'd come by later. In the meantime, do you want me to let the others in? They spent all night looking for you." Troy gave his sister a nod and she left to find the rest of their friends.

After visiting time was over, Sandy and his friends had headed home. He was left alone with his thoughts, questioning if he was losing his sanity. A knock at the door brought him back to reality.

"Come in." He called out. A tall man in a navy dark uniform walked in.

"I see you're doing better."

Troy nodded. "Are you the one who found me?" The man nodded. "Thank you Mr…"

"Myers. But you can call me Eric."

"Thank you, Eric." Troy said.

"Now you want to tell me what happened?" Eric asked, taking a seat.


	4. The Mark

Chapter Four: The Mark

Two weeks had gone by since Troy had been discharged from the hospital and Emma had officially begun her job as a babysitter. Matt was a shy kid and it took a couple days for him to even begin to trust Emma. She was fixing him a quick snack before bed when Matt walked into the kitchen, taking a seat at the table. In his hands were action figures. Emma smiled when she noticed what they were. They were power rangers.

"What do you have there?" Emma asked him.

Matt looked up, eyes lighting up as he spoke. "Power Rangers!"

"They look pretty cool."

"They are." He looked at her for a while as if evaluating whether he should say something. "Don't tell anyone but-" He glanced around the room, lowering his voice as he spoke. "I know them."

"Do you?" Emma hid her smile. When she was younger, she liked to pretend she knew them too.

Matt nodded his head. "But I can't tell you who they are. It's a secret."

"You must be really special if they trust you with such a big secret." The little boy nodded his head. Emma heard the door to the front of the house open and in walked Taylor.

"I'm home." She called out. As soon as Matt heard his mothers' voice he ran into her arms. Taylor picked him up, swung him around and kissed his forehead. "Hi, sweetheart." Then she looked to Emma. "Sorry I made you stay later than usual."

"Don't worry about it. Busy day?"

"Like you wouldn't believe. Eric's still finishing up some paper work. I decided to come back earlier than him. You have school tomorrow and that means you need sleep."

Emma wouldn't have minded staying for a couple more hours, but she was grateful. They said goodnight to each other and Emma headed over to her house.

* * *

Lily was excited as she walked out of the boutique. Nothing could get rid of the smile on her face. Her

sister had told her that every time she walked into a room she lit it up like fireworks. Even though the wedding was still a couple months away she could not wait to be married.

She had just purchased the perfect dress. She didn't want a big wedding, only having invited a few family members and close friends. Her sister and Fran had accompanied her to pick out a dress. Her sister had long ago found out about her tattoo, but she didn't know the true meaning behind it, believing that Lily and Casey had just gotten matching tattoos.

On the day of the wedding she would have to cover it up to keep her secret hidden. She was a little jealous that all Casey had to do was put on a tux and it would be like if it was never there.

"I don't understand why you want to cover it up?" Her sister Ana asked. Lily could only shrug. "I mean there's a reason both you and Casey got them and it's your wedding day. I say you leave it out for the whole world to see."

Lily glanced at Fran. They both knew she couldn't do that.

"I'll think about it." Lily said to keep her from talking about it anymore. The ride home was silent. Lily had dropped her sister off while she and Fran had headed to her house.

"Do you think you'll every tell her?" Fran asked her as they entered the house.

"Tell who what?" Casey asked getting up from the couch.

Lily sighed. "Ana. She keeps trying to convince me not to hide my tattoo."

Casey understood. They were sworn to secrecy and the only reason Fran knew was because she had accidently found out. Casey knew Lily didn't want to talk about it anymore, so he decided it was best to change the topic instead.

"Who's hungry? I made lunch."

* * *

Troy's vision had stopped but the dreams were still frequent. He had decided to finally tell someone because he knew it might eventually drive him crazy. Sandy had not believed him, thinking he had simply hit his head really hard. The night before he had texted Emma, asking her if she could meet him at the park. She'd agreed and now he waited for her, praying she wouldn't dismiss his dreams as his mind playing tricks on him. Somehow, he felt there was much more to them. He just wasn't sure what.

A tap on his shoulder brought him out of his thoughts. It was Emma smiling down at him. He moved over giving her room to sit next to him on the bench.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" She asked.

Troy took a deep breath. "My dreams." He stared off in front of him. He couldn't see her face, but he knew she was listening. "The thing is they weren't just nightmares. They were visions."

"What do you mean were?" she questioned.

"They stopped. When I ran away…I… saw this woman. She was trying to tell me something. It was as if I was there with her. Like she could see me." He said.

"How do you know she wasn't really there?"

"Because…she wasn't the only one I saw. There were bodies everywhere and there was fire and-"

"Bodies?" She stopped him.

"Emma," Troy finally turned to look at her. "Emma, they were dead. They were all dead."

Emma couldn't speak. If this was all Troy saw, it was no wonder he couldn't sleep. It took a while for the information to sink in, but when it finally did, she looked at him. "Have you ever seen the woman before?"

Troy shook his head. "Never. I mean I don't think I have. She was covered in blood. I don't think I'd recognize her if I saw her." They were silent for a moment before he remembered something. "I may not be able to recognize her by her face, but I do remember something. When she grabbed me, I saw this mark near her wrist."

"A mark?" Troy nodded. "We'll that's a start."

"You believe me? You don't think I'm crazy?"

"Do you believe that there's a reason that you're seeing these things?" She asked. He nodded. "Then I do. I believe you. We'll search for any information there is on the mark and we'll figure out how this woman is connected."

Emma got up ready to start looking. Before she could get far, Troy grabbed her hand. She turned around. "I don't want the others to know yet. Not until we find something to prove I'm not going crazy."

Emma thought the others should know but she respected his decision. She had never kept anything from Gia and she knew keeping this from her would prove to be a challenge. "I won't say a word." She promised. "Now, let's go look. We're bound to find something on the internet."


	5. Dead End

Chapter Five: Dead End

Troy and Emma had spent days searching for any information involving the mysterious mark on the wrist of the unknown woman. So far, they had found nothing. All their searches hadn't even pulled up an image of the mark. Troy resorted to having to draw it out for Emma. It was as if the mark didn't even exist.

Frustrated Emma slammed the laptop shut. "There's nothing. Not even a picture."

"Maybe it's because it's not real. My brain made it all up. My mind really is playing tricks on and I'm really going crazy." Troy gave a half-hearted laugh.

"No. No, there must be something out there. There has to be a logical explanation." Emma had begun to pace now.

"Look, Emma. It's alright."

Emma sat back down, looking defeated. "I'm sorry Troy. I really thought we would find something. It's just…I really wanted answers."

Troy reached across the table to grab her hand. "I did too. But we're obviously looking for something we're never going to find."

Emma shook her head. "I refuse to believe that." She pulled her hand free out of his grasp, opening the laptop. "We just have to keep…"

"Emma stop." Troy sighed. "Just stop. Please. It was a bad dream. A nightmare. That's all there is to it."

"Troy…"

"Promise you'll stop looking." Emma could only stare at him. "Promise me you'll leave it alone."

"Troy…" She didn't want to stop looking. She wanted answers but the look he gave her proved to her he had given up. "I promise."

"I should get going. It's getting late." Emma glanced at the clock, nodding in agreement.

"Yeah. I'll see you tomorrow." Once she heard the door close behind Troy, she picked up the paper with the drawing, staring at it. Then she folded it neatly and placed it in her pocket. Grabbing her keys and jacket off its hook, she headed out the door.

* * *

Noah was tired. As soon as he had gotten home he was looking forward to some much-needed sleep but just as he was about to close his eyes, he heard his mom call out for him.

He squeezed his eyes shut, hoping sleep would take him and his mother wouldn't insist. Unfortunately, she did, yelling for him to come downstairs.

With a groan, he grabbed his glasses off the nightstand and walked out of his room. He leaned over the railing and he noticed that she was talking to someone at the door.

"Mom?" he called. "Who is it?"

His mom turned, looking up. She moved out of the way, given him a better view of the person.

It was Emma. She waved up at him, smiling sheepishly.

"Emma?" He started to climb down the stairs. "What are you doing here?"

"I need a favor." She pulled the slip of paper out of her pocket and placed in his hand. "I need you to do a deep search of anything related to that." She said pointing at it. "Can you do it?"

"Yeah. I can. What is it?" He questioned unfolding it.

"I don't know but you can't tell anybody about it." Noah looked at her then at the drawing.

"This better not bring any trouble." He told her.

"I just want to know what it means."

"I'll let you know what I find tomorrow." He said folding it back up again. Emma thanked him and apologized for bothering him so late. Once she had left, he closed the door, leaning against it. Then he pushed himself off it and headed upstairs to begin looking. It looked like he wouldn't be getting any sleep after all.

* * *

The next day, Noah had to rub the sleep out of his eyes as he walked into school. He was so tired he barely heard Jake call his name. He let out a yawn then glanced up to see Jake standing right next to him and Noah almost fell back, surprised.

"Hey there buddy. You're jumpy today." Jake laughed.

"Sorry. Didn't get much sleep." He readjusted the strap on his bag. He had slept in a bad position, hunched over his computer and now his shoulder hurt.

"You shouldn't study so much," Jake told him as they walked to math class. "I'm pretty sure sleep is a requirement when it comes to good grades."

Noah couldn't tell him the real reason he had been up late. Emma had asked him not to so instead he said, "I guess that's why I'm getting opposite results."

They took a seat at the back of the classroom and as he pulled out his notebook, he saw Emma walk in. She looked at the empty seat next to him and started to walk toward it, but someone got to it before her.

"Everyone find a seat." The teacher said. Emma was still standing, looking around the room. She was trying to find a seat close to him, but they were all taken. "Emma?" The teacher called. "There's one right in front of you. Please sit down."

"Sorry. I didn't see it." She said, taking a seat.

During the whole period, Emma kept turning around to look at Noah. Gia had to call her name multiple times just to get her attention. He could see in her eyes that she was getting desperate. It seemed like if she stared long enough, she'd be able to psychically read the information he had for her. Towards the end of the period, she had begun fidgeting with her pencil.

Noah knew that Emma didn't want anyone to know about the drawing, so he wrote down the information on the piece of paper she had given him the day before. Gia would most likely be with Emma once the class was over, so he wouldn't be able to verbally tell her.

As soon as the bell rung, signaling the end of class he heard a pencil snapping and Gia asking Emma if she was okay.

He held the paper in a fist to conceal it and began to walk towards them. Jake followed right behind.

"Hey, Gia," Jake called out. Noah went to stand next to Emma. She looked up. "Did you understand the lesson today?" She nodded. "Think you can help me? I was lost the entire class."

She turned to face him. Noah saw his opportunity to slip Emma the note. He made a motion as if to grab her hand, handing her the paper then quickly dropped his hand back to his side. Emma held it tight.

Gia pointed behind her. "You have a smart friend right there. I'm sure he would love to help you." As she said this, she glanced at Noah out of the corner of her eye. She saw the gesture Noah made and she frowned. Before she could ask him about it, he started to drag Jake out of the classroom.

"We're going to be late to our next class. You can talk to her later. Bye Gia. Bye Emma."

Gia turned around. "What was that?" she asked Emma.

"What was what?" She asked, stepping into the hallway.

"The hand thing. Why was he trying to grab your hand?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." She didn't give Gia a chance to speak again. "I have to go to the bathroom." Then she took off down the hall. When she reached the bathroom, she checked to see if anyone was inside. She knew everyone was probably in class by now, but she had to make sure.

Once she made sure all the stalls were empty and no one would walk in, she unfolded the paper. On it was the drawing Troy had made and right below it two words were written.

 _Pai Zhuq_


	6. Coughs

Chapter Six: Coughs

Unlike Troy and Emma, Noah had been able to find some sort of information, yet Emma felt it wasn't enough. During lunch she made sure to sit next to Noah, earning a curious look from Gia. While the others were distracted she leaned over, making sure only Noah could hear her.

"What does it mean?" Noah looked at her confused, then realization hit him.

He shrugged. "Honestly, I'm not sure."

"You didn't find anything else?"

He shook his head. "All I know is it has something to do with a claw."

Emma furrowed her eyebrows. "A claw?" Noah nodded. She noticed Gia looking her way and slowly began to move away from Noah.

Other than the fact that the drawing looked like a claw, she couldn't think of any other way it could lead her to something else.

"Emma?" Her head snapped up. She had forgotten where she was, having become lost in her thoughts. When she looked up, she saw all her friends looking at her.

"Sorry. What did you say?"

"I said Tensou might have found a way to finally contact Orion. We're going to head to the base afterschool. Are you coming?" Jake asked.

"I can't. I'm watching Matt." She was a bit disappointed she couldn't go but she couldn't cancel on Taylor.

"I'll ask Tensou to find a way to send the signal your way," Jake told her.

Emma smiled. "Thanks, Jake." She got up. "I'll be right back." She started to walk away. She heard footsteps echoing behind her as she made her way down the hallway. She turned around to see Gia running to catch up to her.

"We need to talk," Gia said to her once she had gotten closer.

"About what?"

"You and Noah."

"What is there to talk about?"

"Emma, do you like Noah?" Emma began to laugh. "It's not funny."

"You know we're just friends."

"Do I? I don't think I really know you anymore." Gia said crossing her arms.

"What are you talking about?" Emma frowned.

"Lately you've been so secretive. You always tell me everything." Gia pointed a finger at her. "And don't you dare say it's not true."

Emma bit her lip. She didn't know what to say. Gia couldn't know, she had promised Troy she'd keep his secret. "I've just been really tired. With school and looking after Matt, I haven't been getting as much sleep as I would like."

Gia looked at her for a long while, as if debating what to say. "Tired? That's the best you could come up with?" With that Gia turned around, heading in the direction she had come.

Emma called out to her, but Gia didn't stop.

* * *

In the middle of his last class, Jake had a gotten a text from his brother, telling him to head home straight after school. He'd asked if something was wrong but hadn't received a reply. He let the others know he wouldn't be able to make it and to go on without him.

He had just put the key through the lock when he heard a loud crash come from inside the house. He rushed to open the door, fumbling with the keys. Finally managing to get it open he let his things fall to the ground and run up the stairs.

He was greeted by the sight of his brother helping his mother up back into bed. "What happened?"

"Nothing, honey." His mother replied, coughing.

His brother looked at him. "She fell trying to get to the bathroom." Then he motioned for Jake to step out of the room, closing the door behind them. "I took her to the doctor's today." He began. "It's gotten a lot worse, Jake."

"How bad?" Jake felt his heart drop. His mother was everything to him. She was the one who had first introduced soccer to him. Just like him, she loved it. When she became sick, it had become difficult to keep playing. He knew how much it hurt her to not be able to kick the ball around for more than a couple of seconds before feeling tired.

His brother didn't answer. He couldn't even look at him. "Leo, how bad?"

"It's terminal." Jake could feel his heart breaking. His eyes were watering. He grabbed his head in his hands, squeezing his palms into his eye. He tried to hold back the tears.

When his mother had first been diagnosed with cancer, he felt scared. Scared that he could lose her. Now he was terrified. Terrified because he knew he would lose her. It felt as if his whole world was crumbling around him.

"How long?" He asked. He could feel the tears streaming down his cheeks.

"A couple months."

"Does Dad know?" Leo shook his head no.

"You know he doesn't care." Their father had left when they were young, leaving their mother for another woman. Growing up they had always known where he was. He would send gifts on their birthdays and call the house, asking to talk to them. Their mother would always send the gifts back and hang up the phone whenever it was her who picked up. While Jake had held on hope that one day his father would come back, Leo had never trusted him.

When Leo turned eighteen, he found out that he would inherit a large sum of money when he turned 21. Their grandfather on his mothers' side had left both boys part of his fortune. He had been one of the owners of a soccer club. It was how his mother had fallen in love with the sport, having spent her childhood exposed to it.

Not only had Leo discovered what his grandfather had left him but also that it was the reason their father had tried so hard to win them over after leaving. Their father had hoped to get a share of that inheritance.

Jake nodded. "He can't know."

He could hear his mother's coughs through the door. With every cough he heard, he left as if a piece of her was slowly leaving.

"I should talk to her," Jake told his brother. Leo nodded in agreement. He headed for the door, hoping he wouldn't break down in front of her.


	7. Attack

Chapter Seven: Attack

"You're here. You're here!" Tensou called out as the Rangers walked into the base.

"Have you talked to Orion yet?" Gia asked him.

"No. I've been waiting for you Rangers." Then he moved over to the console. He pressed around a bit and then static filled the room.

"Is it working?" Troy asked confused. He was sure that they should have heard Orion's voice by now.

Noah walked up next to Tensou. "Let me see if I can help."

Together they worked on it for a couple of minutes and then an indistinguishable voice could be heard.

"Orion?" Tensou asked. Noah continued to move some things around when the voice finally came through clear.

"Set a course for Earth. We invade their planet today."

"Invasion?" Gia asked, turning to look up at Gosei. "That's impossible. They're supposed to be gone."

"Not if they still had ships scattered across the universe."

"How many ships, Gosei?" Noah asked.

"Possibly hundreds of thousands." He replied.

"We'll take them out," Troy told them.

Noah wanted to believe him. But the truth was hearing that number made him feel uneasy. He had thought the ranger life would be over. He had wanted so badly to believe everything could go back to normal. "Troy, it's thousands of them."

"We can take them. We have to." He said. "We have to for the sake of the planet. For the sake of our home."

Gia looked at him and nodded. "I'll let the others know…" She didn't get a chance to finish her sentence before the ground began to shake.

"What is that?" Noah yelled. He watched as Tensou ran over to the console and managed to pull up a live feed.

"Oh no." Noah heard Tensou say.

"Tensou?" Gia asked. The Rangers were all trying to keep their balance, holding onto the first thing they saw.

"It's begun." He said. He motioned for the others to look. The sky was filled with Armada ships until it seemed like there was no space for another one. Then they saw as the ships started to fire down on the city.

* * *

Emma sat at the table, looking over Matt's shoulder, making sure he was adding correctly. Every time Matt would get an answer correct, he would smile up at Emma brightly and Emma would unconsciously return the smile.

"After I'm done with math, can I watch a movie?" He asked her.

"First you have to eat something." She replied. Matt put his pencil down and handed the worksheet to Emma. She looked it over making sure everything looked right, gave a thumbs up and got up to start preparing him something. Matt ran up to his room to put his stuff away.

"Don't forget to wash your hands!" She called up to him.

Then she felt her head spin. She blinked a couple of times to clear her head but when she opened her eyes the room was still spinning. As the motion grew faster, she realized that the room was literally shaking. She dropped the knife in her hand, grabbed her phone off the counter and ran after Matt.

She called his name out. In the kitchen, dishes and glasses started to break, falling on the floor. She yelled louder, climbing up the stairs. The frames on the wall had begun to rock back and forth violently.

"Emma!" He cried out.

"I'm coming!" She yelled back. She had reached to the top of the stairs when she heard the windows shatter. She walked into his bedroom to find him hiding under his bed.

"Matt, come out." She leaned down, stretching her hand to grab his. She held onto his hand tightly and pulled him out, engulfing him in her arms. She ran down the stairs, Matt in arms. Before she could make it out the door, she felt a sharp pain in the back of the head and the world turned dark.

* * *

Taylor sat in her office, looking over some paperwork when Eric walked in.

"Hey." He said, lightly closing the door behind him. He walked up to her, giving her a quick kiss on the lips. "Ready to get lunch?"

She looked at him confused and then at the clock. "It's lunchtime already?" She noticed it was half an hour past the time they were supposed to go get lunch.

"Unless you don't want to eat," Eric told her. "I can eat your food too." Taylor frowned at him. He raised his hands up defensively. "I'm just saying."

"Very funny." She grabbed her bag and together they headed to the elevator. Once they were inside, she pulled out her phone to call Emma. No one answered. She looked at Eric. "Emma's not picking up."

"She probably has it on silent."

"I just want to check in on him." She called again and still, there was no answer.

Eric grabbed her hands. "Stop worrying. I'm sure everything's fine." Then the elevator stopped moving. The screen that indicated the floor number was blank. "What in the world?" They felt the building shake and then the lights went out.

Taylor turned in his direction. Eric couldn't really see her, but he was positive her arms were crossed. "What was that you were saying about everything being fine?"

Eric didn't respond instead he reached down to his side and grabbed his walkie-talkie. "This is Eric Myers. Come in, can anyone hear me?" There was no response.

Taylor looked down at her phone and decided to call Emma again. This time the call went straight to voicemail.

"The call isn't going through." She told Eric.

He turned on the flashlight from his phone. Taylor had to shield her eyes, he quickly moved it to face another direction. "That's because there's no signal."

"We have to get out of here," Taylor told him. "I have a bad feeling about this."

Eric didn't argue, nor did he tell her to stay calm. He also had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. He tried to radio in once more. This time someone answered.

"We're being attacked."


	8. Gust of Wind

Chapter Eight: Gust of Wind

"Emma isn't answering," Gia said worriedly, looking at Troy.

"Neither is Jake," Noah added.

Troy was worried. He was worried about his friends, for his parents and especially for his sister. He had called but she too had not picked up. He wouldn't allow his mind to think the worst. At least not yet.

"They have their morphers." He said it to reassure them that their friends were safe, but he couldn't find something to reassure him that his sister wasn't in danger. After all, she wasn't a Ranger. "We're going to go out there and we're going to stop them.

Gia's eyes strayed to the screen. Buildings were completely destroyed. Trees had fallen on cars, trapping people inside. Houses were in pieces and roads were blocked. It looked like the planet was about to cave in on itself. The Armada had shot down on their city, on their planet. They'd kept shooting until they were sure no building was left standing. Now X-borgs were being sent down. Without a second thought, she turned to the boys. "Let's go."

They morphed, arriving in the city in less than a couple of minutes. Troy saw the X-borgs attacking people and immediately went to help them. When the X-borgs saw the Rangers had arrived they directed their attention toward them, forgetting the people. Noah took this chance to yell out to them to run and hide. They usually were able to handle the X-borgs. They never considered them to be their toughest opponent, taking them out in a couple of minutes. But this time, it seemed that no matter how many they got rid of, there were always more.

Eventually, they were surrounded, unable to keep them down. Gia had her blaster out, aiming at one of the X-borgs. Before she could pull the trigger, one hit her from behind. She fell to the ground. Noah made his way to her, taking as many of them out as he could.

Once he reached her, he helped her up to her feet then turned to Troy, yelling out. "There's too many!"

Troy didn't want to back down, but he knew it would be no use if they were killed. He nodded, signaling for them to get away. They ran as fast as they could until they reached the high school. Making sure no one was around to see them, they demorphed.

Troy saw that half the school had collapsed. He looked down at his watch, realizing that his sister had been at the school at the time the attacks had started. He turned to his friends. "I'm going to look for my sister. You guys should go look for the others. We'll meet back at the base in an hour." They nodded, heading off.

Troy headed inside the school. He saw the X-borgs hadn't yet reached the school and that it was only a matter of time before they would. He needed to find his sister fast. Many students were making their way out of the building, with a couple of cuts and bruises. No one seemed to be seriously injured and he could only hope that his sister had had the same luck.

He yelled out her name, asking people if they had seen her. Finally, he reached the side of the building that had fallen. He still grasped on to hope that she had simply left before he got here and couldn't contact him because the cell phone towers were down.

The ceiling had caved in and he could barely squeeze himself through. "Sandy!" He called.

"Troy?" he heard back. He looked around, but he couldn't see her. "I'm here!"

"I can't see you." Then his sister appeared from behind a piece of the ceiling. The path was blocked and all he could see was above her shoulders. "Sandy are you okay?" she nodded. "Is there something for you to step on? I'll pull you out." He told her.

She didn't reply. Instead, she said. "My friends trapped. His legs are pinned down. I can't get it off him." Troy glanced up at the ceiling. It didn't look like it would hold much longer. He needed to get them out of there.

"Listen to me Sandy, I'll get him out. But first I need to get you out of there."

She shook her head. "Not until the beam is off him."

"Sandy,"

"No Troy. I'm not leaving him." Then a voice came from behind Sandy.

He spoke, pained laced in his voice. "Listen to him, Sandy."

She looked at her brother. "Promise you'll get him out."

"I promise." Sandy found a rock she could step on to give her a boost. When Troy could see her arms, he grabbed her and slowly began to pull her out, afraid the ceiling might give way. "Head outside. We'll be right behind you." He told her. She shook her head no. He knew he didn't have time to argue, so he carefully made his way over to get her friend. Troy saw a guy, back against the floor, attempting to push the beam off himself but every time he moved it he cried out in pain.

"Hey, what's your name?" He tried talking to him to distract him from the pain.

"Preston." The boy said through gritted teeth. "I think something's stuck in my leg." Troy took a closer look and saw that a piece of the metal had broken off and buried itself into the side of his thigh. The wound looked deep.

"I'm going to try to lift it and I want you to pull yourself out as fast as you can." Preston nodded.

Troy tried to lift it up, but it was too heavy. Time was running out. Then, a sudden gust of wind made its way through the hole in the roof. It was strong enough to bring the rest of the ceiling down but instead, it wrapped itself around the beam as if it were a hand holding it and lifted it up. Without a second thought, Troy grabbed Preston and pulled him out. The beam dropped to the floor with a thud.

"What in the world?" Troy said. The wind came toward him, lifting Preston over the open gap to Sandy. Sandy reached out to grab him and Troy followed making his way through the gap.

Sandy was attempting to hold Preston up, but he was too heavy for her. Troy put one of Preston's arms around his shoulder and helped her.

"What was that?" Sandy asked.

"I don't know," Troy answered. Together they dragged Preston outside.

* * *

She was working when the attacks happened. She'd just finish seeing a patient when a fellow doctor had pointed at the television, grabbing her attention. They were showing footage of Harwood County being invaded and there were reports that other cities around the world were being attacked. She quickly grabbed her phone and made her way to her office, making a phone call as she went. The person on the other end picked up on the second ring.

"Did you hear? About the attacks?" She asked.

"It's all over the news. They haven't gotten to us yet. But there's been sightings of ships just outside the city." The man informed her. "I called your dad. I have them. I'm driving to you now. I'll be there in five minutes."

She didn't get a chance to answer. A loud sound from the front of the building caused the phone to fall out of her hand, a ringing sound in her ears. Someone grabbed her from behind. She swung her arm, trying to fight back but she was too disoriented. She kicked but all she hit was air. They hit her from behind, dropping her to her knees and she felt a prick on the side of her neck. She tried to get back up but was too weak. She glanced up at her attackers, as they grabbed her arms and started to drag her. Her vision was fuzzy, but she could see the outline of people on the ground, calling out for help. She tried to move, she wanted to help but she was paralyzed.

Before she was engulfed in darkness, she heard someone say. "Four more to go."


	9. Radio

Chapter Nine: Radio

When she finally came to, she found herself lying on the floor. She couldn't see anything. The room was bathed in darkness. She slowly got up, reaching a hand in front of her. Her hand came in contact with something that was cold to the touch. She pulled at it, but it wouldn't budge. She moved her hand around the walls of the room trying to find an exit. There were no windows or doors. There was nothing. She was trapped.

"Hello!" She yelled. "Get me out of here!" She was banging against the metal keeping her in. Then the room was suddenly bathed in light. She saw she was in a cell and across from her was a man trapped in his own cell. He lay unconscious.

She heard steps approaching. Then an X-borg made his way in front of her.

"Let me out of here." She told it. He raised the staff, jamming it into her stomach. The force pushed her back against the wall. Then there was darkness again. She heard a grunt coming from nearby. Holding her stomach, she slowly got up.

"Where am I?" she heard the man say. Quickly she hushed him.

Whispering, she said, "Don't yell."

His eyes opened wide, he recognized her voice. "Where are we?"

"I don't know." She answered. "They came out of nowhere. They grabbed me and injected me with something." She brought a hand to her neck. "Please tell me you have them."

He furrowed his eyebrows, confused for a second before realization sunk in. He frantically touched his wrist, then patted his pocket. They were gone.

"They took them." He told her, banging the metal bars. "They know who we are."

She let herself fall to the floor. "It's just us here. Maybe the others got away. Maybe they're fighting back."

"There were too many. They could have been caught off guard just like us. They could be-"

"Don't." She turned in his direction even though she couldn't see him. "Don't finish that sentence."

"It's not a coincidence. They didn't just happen to find two rangers." He told her.

She knew he was right; these monsters must have known who they were and how to find them. There was a huge possibility that they had found the others too. "Why are we still alive? Why not just kill us?"

"I don't know. I don't know, Dana."

* * *

Gia ran as fast as was humanly possible. She didn't stop until she reached Taylor's house, where she knew Emma must have been. The house was a pile of bricks. Where the door once stood, Gia could make out a hand sticking out from under the ruble. Slowly she began to remove the debris. When all the pieces were gone, she found Emma unconscious. She could hear a faint cry coming from underneath her. She moved Emma so that she lay on her back and found Matt sobbing and unharmed. She took the boy in her arms, rocking him back and forth.

She reached out a hand toward Emma, trying to find a pulse. She let out a sigh of relief as soon as she found it. Then she lightly shook Emma, hoping she'd wake. The sound of X-borgs making their way down the street caught her attention.

She looked around, her eyes landing on two trees that had fallen on top of each other, creating a barrier. Looking at Matt, she said. "I need you to run over there as fast as you can and stay down."

Matt shook his head, grabbing on to her arm tightly. Gia couldn't leave Emma, but she also couldn't risk a fight and have Matt get hurt. She looked at Emma then rolled her back to the position she was originally in. She piled the debris back on top of her, leaving room for her to breath and careful not to hurt her further. As soon as she was sure the X-borgs wouldn't see her, she picked Matt up and ran towards the trees with him.

"Emma." The little boy said as they ducked down.

"She'll be okay." She reassured him. Then they saw the X-borgs. The streets were empty of people. They had all started to hide once the invasion had begun.

Gia had to pull Matt back down as he tried to stand up. "Monsters." He told Gia.

She nodded. "You have to stay down." Then he started to move toward his house. "Matt, stop."

"I can help." He told her. Their movement must have caught the attention of the X-borgs because they turned toward them. A Bruiser with the X-borgs took aim at them ready to fire. Gia grabbed Matt, hoping to shield him from the blast.

She heard an explosion but didn't feel anything. When she looked up, Noah stood in front of her, crossbow in hand. Noah had blocked the attack and blasted the Bruiser and X-borg to pieces. He demorphed before Matt had a chance to see him.

"We have to go. More will be on their way." He told Gia. She nodded in agreement and pointed in the location where she had left Emma.

Noah quickly began to remove the ruble and lifted Emma bridal style, he motioned for Gia to hurry. Matt freed himself from Gia's hand and ran.

"Matt!" she called, running after him. He made his way toward the shed in his backyard, that had` managed to survive the attack. He opened the door, ran inside and just as quickly ran back out with a box in hand.

He ran to Gia, saying. "We can go now." She looked at him in bewilderment but didn't say anything. All four of them started to make their way to the Ranger base.

* * *

"You're a Ranger?" Sandy asked her brother surprised. They had just gotten back from the school. Preston had knocked out from the pain and they had put him in another room where Tensou was looking at his wound.

Troy nodded. "You were never meant to find out this way." He told her.

"I don't think I was ever meant to find out Troy." She said, arms crossed.

Before they could keep arguing, Jake walked in with his mother in arm. "You're okay?" Troy asked happily.

Jake nodded, then looked down. "My brother," he began. "He didn't make it."

"Jake, I'm sorry." Jake helped his mother into one of the chairs nearby.

"He died protecting me." She whispered.

Jake bent down, looking his mother in the eye. "It wasn't your fault, mom."

"I was supposed to die. Not your brother. I'm the one that's sick. I'm the one that has weeks to live. A mother isn't supposed to outlive her children." She cried. Jake hugged her, holding her tight to his chest. In less then a day his life had turned upside down. He held the tears that threatened to fall, back.

He looked up at Troy and Sandy. "I'm going to take her to get some rest. Noah went to look for Gia and Emma." He got up with his mother, taking her to another room.

"Troy, our parents," Sandy said, reaching for her phone.

"It's no use. The lines are down." He told her.

"There has to be a way to contact them." They heard people walking into the base and when they turned around they saw Noah carrying Emma. Gia and Matt walked in behind him.

Troy ran over, taking Emma from Noah. "What happened?" he asked.

"I found her like that. I think she hit her head." Gia said. She kept glancing at the box in Matt's hands.

"I'll take her to Tensou. We need to find a doctor." He told them. "There's a lot of injured people out there. If the X-borgs don't kill them, their wounds definitely will." Then he walked off.

"Where's Jake?" Gia asked.

Sandy answered before Noah could. "He's in one of the rooms in the back with his mom. I think you should give them a couple of minutes before you go in." Noah had told Gia what had happened and understood they needed space.

Troy walked back into the room. "Tensou said Emma should be up soon." He looked at Matt then up at Gia. "We need to find his parents. They're probably worried sick."

"That's going to be tough considering there's no way of communicating with anyone," Noah said.

"Hey, what's that?" Troy asked, pointing at the box in Matt's hand.

Gia shrugged. "I have no idea, but he won't let it go." She got on her knees, in front of Matt. "Matt, can you tell me what's in there?" She asked him, pointing to the box.

Matt shook his head. "I can't." He said. "It's a secret."

Gia looked up at the others. "See. He won't even tell me."

Suddenly, a beeping sound emerged from the box.

"Uh, guys?" Noah said.

"Matt," Gia said slowly. "I need you to put the box down." She reached out a hand to take the box from him. Matt hugged it to his chest, refusing to let it go. The beeping continued. Finally, Matt opened the box and reached inside. In his hand was an object that resembled a watch, he pressed something on it and a voice could be heard coming from it.

"Eric?" It was a man's voice. "Eric? Are you there?"

Gia looked at Troy. "Eric. That's Matt's dad."

"It must be some sort of radio," Noah told them.

"Eric if you can hear me, listen. You have to hide. Don't fight. Not yet. I can't get in touch with the others. They took-"

Then Matt pressed another button and the voice cut off. "You weren't supposed to hear that." He said.

"Matt, what is that?" Troy asked. Instead of answering, Matt put it back in the box and closed it.

"I think-I think it's a morpher." They turned around to find Emma leaning against the wall.

Gia ran to her side. "You shouldn't be up."

"What do you mean a morpher?" Noah asked.

"I think his dad might be a ranger too."


	10. I have a Plan

Chapter Ten: I have a Plan

Dana was unsure about the amount of time that had passed. It could have been hours or days and after a while of yelling to be let out, she had given up. Now she sat on the floor, head against the wall. She couldn't see Carter, but it was so silent she could hear his breathing.

A moment passed before he spoke. "I'm sorry."

She shook her head even though he couldn't see her. "Stop. Stop apologizing. You couldn't have known."

"I could have gotten to you faster. I could have been more aware of my surroundings. I could have done something." He said.

"Carter, stop. It's not your fault. We haven't contacted the team. They'll know something's up. They'll come looking." She assured him. Before he could say anything else, the large metal door separated them from the rest of the ship opened. Automatically the lights flickered on. They both went to cover their eyes, blinded by the sudden appearance of light.

Dana waited for her eyes to adjust. Two X-borgs walked by their cells, dragging what appeared to be an unconscious man. His face was swollen, and his clothes were soaked in blood. Dana walked as close to the x borgs far as her cell would allow her, grabbing at the bars.

"Hey! Hey!" She yelled. "What are you doing to him?" She knew she wouldn't get a response, but she had to try. She watched as they threw him in the cell next to hers. Then they walked out and again the room was bathed in darkness.

The sound of someone coughing ripped through the air.

"Carter?" Dana asked, worried.

"It's not me." He replied. She heard a grunt coming from the next cell over.

"Hey, are you okay?" Carter asked. The guy didn't respond instead he kept coughing.

After a couple seconds, the guy spoke not realizing there was other people around. "I'm going to be in so much trouble."

"Hey," Carter said again. "Are you okay?"

The man's eyes darted to where he assumed Carter's voice was coming from. "Who are you?" he asked. He tried to get up but fell to the ground with a thud.

"Carter. Do you know where we are?" He asked.

"I was kind of hoping you could tell me." The man answered, coughing again.

Dana finally spoke up, "Are you okay?"

The man shook his head before remembering he couldn't he seen. "I think I may have a couple broken ribs."

"I'm a doctor." Dana told him. "If we could just get out of here, so I could look at you."

The man decided to change the subject. He could tell Dana felt hopeless. He knew the feeling and he hated it. "My name's Casey." He told them.

"I'm Dana." Dana said. "And that's Carter."

"Well Dana, Carter what's our plan? How are we getting out of here?" He broke into another coughing fit.

Carter winced. He had had broken ribs in the past. It was not a pleasant experience. "We don't have one." Carter said hopelessly.

"I think I may have one." Casey told them.

"What's the probability of it working?" Dana questioned. "There's thousands of those things out there and only three of us."

Casey knew she was right, but he had to at least try. He had somewhere to be. "We have to try." He told them. He waited. After not hearing any objections he finally said, "How loud can you guys yell?"

* * *

Emma leaned against the wall for support. She still felt dizzy and knew she shouldn't have gotten out of bed, but she had to tell the others.

Troy had begun to walk towards her, wanting to help her out but Emma waved him away saying she was fine.

Noah was the one to ask the question everyone was thinking, "What do you mean rangers? Why would you think that?"

Emma ignored him, instead turning to look at Matt, "Am I right? Is your dad a power ranger?" Matt looked to her, confused. The others saw the look on the little boy's face before turning to look at Emma. "We've always known there are other ranger teams out there. That's no secret." She began. They nodded. "Tell me that doesn't look like a morpher." She pointed at the box, still grasped in Matt's small hands.

"I don't know, Emma. I mean, is a morpher supposed to look like anything?" Noah questioned. "I could just be a device he uses as part of his job."

Emma could admit to herself that that explanation sounded reasonable but deep down she knew she was right. "I know what I'm saying," she said. "A while back, Matt told me he knew them. I…I thought he was just playing around. They moved from Silver Hills. There were rangers in Silver Hills."

"Emma, I think you should go lie down." Gia began, reaching her hand out and gently pushing her in the direction back to bed. Emma shook her head. She was getting frustrated.

"Listen, you have to look for his parents. If Eric really is a ranger, he can help." She looked to Troy. She had believed him when he had voiced his concerns to her, and she hoped in that moment he would do the same.

He spoke up, "She's right. We have to at least try. Besides we have to get Matt to his parents anyway." He looked at the boy, who could only stare at them. "Noah and I will go look for them at their workplace."

Emma sighed in relief, looking down to the ground. Suddenly she remembered she had something to tell Troy. She looked to him. When his eyes made contact with hers, she motioned toward the back room with her head. He nodded following her as she limped. When they were far enough away, she slipped her hand into her pulling out a crumpled piece of paper.

She looked up at him. "I know I said I'd wouldn't look into it, but…" she handed him the paper. He unfolded it and started at the words written on it. "you should know it's real. I don't know what it means. I don't know how it connects to you or why you're seeing it."

He folded the paper, gently placing it in his pocket. "We'll figure it out but right now we have other thing to worry about."


End file.
